Appellant was convicted of the burglaries of the residences of Center and Grayson (OCGA § 16-7-1 (a)), theft by taking an automоbile van (OCGA § 16-8-2), and felony escape from the Oconee County Jail (OCGA § 16-10-52). He was acquitted of the burglary of a third residenсe.
The State’s evidence showed that appellant was incarcerated in the county jail because of a prior conviction of felony escape. He and fellow inmate Smallwood escaped from the jail in the early morning hours of October 27, 1990. Over the next 24 hours, they burglarized the Center and Grayson residences (apрellant stated to police that Smallwood burglarized the third residence without his knowledge), and they then stole the car and drove away. These crimes occurred in Oconee County.
The next evening they broke into a sporting gоods store in Elbert County and took a large number of weapons. In the early morning hours of October 29, they went to a residence in Madison County and asked the homeowner to assist them with the van. He alerted the police. When aрprised of this, appellant and Smallwood fled. The police were alerted to their location by the sоund of weapons discharging. The police found the two men in a church with pistols drawn. Other weapons from the spоrting goods store were in their possession and in the vicinity of the van.
1. Appellant contends that the trial court errеd in admitting evidence of the burglary of the sporting goods store in that it was an independent crime for which he was not indiсted (it occurred in another county) and was irrelevant.
The evidence was admitted as part of the res gestаe and upon a ruling that its probative value outweighed its prejudicial effect. See
*45
Bixby v. State,
“It is well settled in this state that ‘(a)cts are pertinent as a part of the
res gestae
if they are done pending the hostile enterprise, and if they bear upon it, are performed whilst it is in continuous progress to its catastrophe, and are оf a nature to promote or obstruct, advance or retard it, or to evince essential motive or purрose in reference to it. . . .’ [Cits.] . . . “‘ ‘One of the exceptions to the rule that on prosecution for a particular crime evidence which tends to show that the defendant committed another crime wholly independent from thаt for which he is on trial is irrelevant and inadmissible, is where the other crime is a part of the
res
gestae.’ ” ’ [Cits.] ‘Therefore, a trial judge’s determination that evidence offered as part of the
res gestae
is sufficiently informative and reliable as to wаrrant being considered by the jury will not be disturbed on appeal unless that determination is clearly erroneous.’ [Cit.]”
Sypho v. State,
2. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the burglary of thе sporting goods store for the additional reason that he was not given proper notice of the State’s intеntion to introduce evidence of a prior similar transaction, as required by USCR 31.3 (B).
USCR 31.3 (E) states that “[n]othing in this rule is intended to prohibit the state from introducing evidence of similar transactions or occurrences which are . . . immediately related in time and place to the charge being tried, as part of a single, continuous transaction.” The offensе in issue here, being part of the res gestae, was qualified.
Rollins v. State,
3. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting еvidence of the burglary of the sporting goods store, for yet a third reason, that it was not sufficiently similar to the indicted сharges, and evidence of it was not admitted in accordance with the requirements of
Williams v. State,
4. Finally, appellant challenges the denial of the motion to suppress his incriminating statement to the police, citing
Edwards v. Arizona,
Both the sheriff and chief jailer testified that they did not initiate questioning after appellant exercised his right to remain silent. The chief jailer testified that appеllant said he wanted to talk to the sheriff. He was later taken to the sheriff’s office. After the sheriff advised appellant of his Miranda rights, he made an incriminating statement which the sheriff recorded on a tape recorder. After conduсting a Jackson v. Denno hearing, the trial court found the statement to be admissible, and the tape was played to the jury.
Unless cleаrly erroneous, a trial court’s factual determinations relating to the credibility of witnesses and the admissibility of confessions will be upheld on appeal. E.g.,
Sumpter v. State,
Appellаnt suggests that his statement was also tainted, because authorities placed him in solitary confinement in a manipulаtive effort to get him to make an incriminating statement so as to be moved out of solitary. The sheriff testified that aрpellant was placed there because he had escaped twice and was thus a very high-risk inmate, and that he was given everything due him, such as showers, telephone, and meals. A hope of benefit “ ‘which originates in the mind of thе person making the confession and which originates from seeds of his own planting would not exclude a confession.’ [Cit.]”
Hall v. State,